OAuth Proxy in better-auth lets attackers sign in as other users
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Fixed
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from GitHub. Impact type from CWE-287.
Summary
The better-auth npm package from 1.5.0-beta.12 before 1.7.7 is affected when the OAuth Proxy plugin uses no dedicated secret or the same secret as the global Better Auth secret, sign-in state is stored in a cookie, and implicit account linking is on. The OAuth Proxy plugin trusts any user profile it can decrypt, which is a missing authenticity check (CWE-345). An attacker with no account who knows a user's verified email address can obtain a fake profile for that address and sign in as the user, without provider sign-in or any action by the victim.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-29
Description from the GitHub advisory
## Am I affected? You may be affected if you use `better-auth` from 1.5.0-beta.12 through versions before 1.7.7 with the OAuth Proxy plugin. You are affected only if **all** of these are also true: - On a participating environment, the OAuth Proxy plugin has no dedicated `secret`, or its `secret` equals that environment's global Better Auth secret. - Sign-in state is stored in a cookie (`account.storeStateStrategy: "cookie"`). With a database or secondary storage, this is only the case if you chose it explicitly. - Implicit account linking is on (the default). You are not affected by this path if every participating environment uses a proxy `secret` distinct from its global Better Auth secret, if sign-in state is stored in the database, or if you use a version before 1.5.0-beta.12. ## Summary The OAuth Proxy plugin trusts any user profile it can decrypt. In the affected setup, Better Auth encrypts sign-in state, including data the caller chose, with the same secret and hands it to anyone who starts a social sign-in. An attacker can use this to get a fake profile for another user's email address that the proxy accepts as real. ## Impact An attacker without an account who knows a user's verified email address can sign in as that user, with that user's permissions. They can read private data, change the account, and link a provider account of their choice to it. They need no provider sign-in and no action from the victim. No availability impact is established, and a reported open redirect was not confirmed. ## Patches The fix is merged for the planned `better-auth` 1.7.7 release. That package is not available yet. Upgrade all nodes handling the same cookie-backed OAuth or SAML state flow and all OAuth Proxy participants together, including the production coordinator and preview or development deployments. Keep installed Better Auth packages released alongside `better-auth` on the same release version. Restart pending sign-in and account-linking flows; pre-upgrade state cookies and proxy payloads are rejected. Public options and API signatures are unchanged. ## Workarounds Until you upgrade to the fixed release, apply one of these: - Set one strong OAuth Proxy `secret` across every environment that takes part in the proxy flow, and keep it different from each environment's global Better Auth secret. - Set `account.storeStateStrategy: "database"`. This is already the default when a database or secondary storage is configured. If Magic Link is also enabled, switching can expose a separate cross-purpose verification-record path in affected releases. Ensure the two flows resolve to distinct stored identifiers; with built-in options, use Magic Link `storeToken: "hashed"` with global `verification.storeIdentifier` unset or `"plain"`, or disable Magic Link or both built-in social and Generic OAuth sign-in. - Remove the OAuth Proxy plugin if you do not need it. Setting `account.accountLinking.disableImplicitLinking: true` stops this path from taking over an existing account. It does not fix the underlying flaw: the callback can still accept attacker-made data as a provider identity. Apply one of the steps above as well.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | better-auth (npm) | 1.5.0-beta.12 to before 1.7.7 | 1.7.7 | Patch available | GHSA-r4xp-prcw-77qf |
- better-auth (npm) Vendor— Affected 1.5.0-beta.12 to before 1.7.7 Fixed in 1.7.7 Patch available GHSA-r4xp-prcw-77qf
Remediation
Upgrade better-auth to 1.7.7, which fixes this issue; the fix is merged but the package was not yet available when this record was written. Until then, set one strong OAuth Proxy secret different from the global Better Auth secret, or set account.storeStateStrategy to "database". Upgrade all participating environments together, since pre-upgrade state cookies and proxy payloads are rejected.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-29
- Fix · GHSA-r4xp-prcw-77qf better-auth (npm) Fixed in 1.7.7 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-27 Threatist record created from GHSA-r4xp-prcw-77qf
References
Other 5
- https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/security/advisories/GHSA-r4xp-prcw-77qf
- https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/pull/11494
- https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/commit/ac54bfd67821a7607533af2059858b12bc54e26a
- https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth
- https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.7.7
Sources
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